The foundations of buildings often experience water problems due to a variety of causes. When such foundations are constructed, the surrounding soil must be removed prior to construction and then replaced after the foundation is completed. As a result, foundations can become damaged as soil settles outside of the foundation. Furthermore, a negative grade sloping toward the foundation is also often formed due to such settling. With the negative grade, the force of gravity causes water to move toward the foundation cracking the foundation and eventually entering into the building. This is especially true of basements and crawl spaces.
When water enters a dwelling, many problems arise, both to the physical structure of the dwelling and to the air. It is known in the art to install structural waterproofing systems to drain water from basements and crawl spaces. Typical waterproofing systems include some method of draining the water from inside the building to the outside. U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,034 discloses a basement draining channel that extends around the periphery of a basement floor, next to the wall, for draining away collected water. The channel includes a plurality of drain entrance holes leading to drain tubes. When water enters the basement walls, it is collected in the channel and directed toward the entrance holes due to gravity. The water is channeled via gravity to a drain connector pipe to a sump pump. The problem with such existing gravity-based waterproofing systems, however, is that the system must absorb a certain amount of water before the water will flow, and ultimately drain from the structure. If there is too little water to cause flow, the water remains stagnant and may evaporate back into the interior of the basement causing mildew, mold, and general dampness. Also when a sufficient amount of water is present to create a flow, a residual amount of water is left in the conduit when the flow stops. Additionally, any water drained directly beneath the floor of the basement may evaporate back into the waterproofing system and eventually back into the basement. Dampness and associated mold from such evaporation causes damage to buildings, ruins possessions, produces foul odors, and even presents potential health problems. When excessive moisture or water accumulates indoors, growing molds produce allergens, irritants, and potentially toxic substances. Although mold growth can be treated, it cannot be eliminated as long as a moisture problem exists.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for a system for handling water leakage and resulting humidity in a basement and other room of a building or structure.